Once upon a time, Dallas Cowboys fans had a lot to be happy about. The most iconic franchise in all of sports gave its fans plenty of fond memories during the rise of “America’s Team” in the 70’s. Then, after a very brief stint as the laughing stock of the league in the mid 80’s, Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnston gave rise to the dynasty of the 90’s, the golden age for the franchise. It is hard to believe that it has now been more than a quarter century since the 5 time World Champion Dallas Cowboys were last crowned Super Bowl Champs. In fact, they hold the distinction of being one of only 6 franchises (Lions, Commanders, Texans, Dolphins, and Browns) that have not appeared in a conference championship game during that span. Recently, Cowboys fans have witnessed the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals end their conference championship appearance droughts while watching their team lose in the wild card round of the playoffs this season. Indeed, Cowboys fans have fallen on hard times of late but have they begun to lose hope or are they as confident as ever? A recent survey may have revealed the answer to that question.
The survey, courtesy of Lineups.com, consisted of asking over 2000 NFL fans whether or not they became emotionally upset during a game. The fans were also asked to rank who they perceived were the most miserable fanbases in the NFL. To the latter question, the top 3 teams listed were not at all surprising. The Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, and New York Jets have all suffered tremendously for many years. It was somewhat surprising though to see the Dallas Cowboys ranked number 4 on that list of most miserable fanbases. Or, is it really all that surprising?
The last 25+ years have been difficult for Cowboys fans, but the team has at least enjoyed some moderate success. Maybe that is the problem. The team has remained somewhat competitive, has flirted with but not attained any real success, yet has never seemed to hit rock bottom. It makes sense that mediocrity and endless heartbreak and disappointment would drive a fanbase to be even more miserable than if the team was a complete and hopeless failure from the start. It is the hope that kills us in the end.
That brings us to the the first question of the survey. Which fans are most likely to cry for any number of reasons over their team? On that list, Dallas Cowboys fans ranked #1 overall and were therefore crowned the saddest fanbase in the entire NFL. The trouble is, sad is the wrong adjective. I would argue, the results of this survey reveal what we Cowboy fans already know beyond a shadow of a doubt…that we are the most passionate fan base in the entire NFL.
*Photo by Joe Glorioso; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode
